So far, medical school kind of sucks. Everyone said it was going to be tough, but he thought it was going to be the good kind of tough, the tough where he would be able to prevail and push through and put in the long hours because this is what he wants to do with his life, this is his passion. But so far all he's done is drink way too much coffee and get talked over in class by the same guys who chant jock songs on campus on the way to the bars Thursday nights so loudly that he can hear them from the little nook he's claimed for himself in the library. Sam honestly can't understand how they do it. He had a few glasses of wine with his mama when she came to visit over Columbus weekend and almost threw up the next day on a corpse.
He's beginning to think he doesn't have the drive to do this. Surgeons are supposed to be competitive, badass, jocks. He's just an overwhelmed geek who's spending way to much time hating his life and everyone in it.
Except the redhead. He doesn't hate her.
-o-
Addison, her name is. He overheard her telling it to that douchebag with the 1920's villain facial hair who Sam once saw making out with his lab partner on line at Starbucks. She has a nice smile. Also, she mouths the answer to every question the professors ask with her head ducked down over her notebook, which is adorable. He doesn't have a shot, he knows that. Still, she, Addison, sometimes seems a little lost and he likes to think that if nothing else they could be friends, because frankly he's a little lost too.
He really hopes she doesn't end up dating that guy though. There's a rumor floating around that he gave one of the associate professors gonorrhea.
-o-
"Hey, I'm sorry, is this seat taken?"
She's talking to him. He needs to say something back (something other than Hi, you look great in glasses and have really pretty hair, and I don't really know you but I think you're fantastic). "No, that… is any empty seat. You can have it if you want to, you know… have it." Great job.
"Thanks," she smiles sweetly and drops into the chair across from him. "You're in a few of my lectures, right? I'm Addison."
"Sam." He reaches across the table to shake her hand, because apparently he's fifty, and actively trying to be as pathetic as possible. He blames his all-boys high school. And, kind of, his mother.
"So," she says, amazingly not fleeing the scene but instead flipping open a textbook. "Are you starting to hate this place as much as I am?"
"The library or the world?"
"The library," Addison replies grinning. "We're trying to save the world, remember?"
"Honestly, no. I can't even remember what outside looks like."
"Oh, it's only okay. Lots of pigeons and all the buildings are really tall."
They chat for a few more minutes before arriving at the mutual decision that break time is over and they bury themselves back into work. He learns that she's from Connecticut, and has an older brother wandering this campus somewhere, and is sharing an apartment with her friend Naomi who apparently is a really great cook and totally funny.
"I'm living with a guy named Hank who used my walkman to make a homemade bong," Sam deadpanned, causing Addison to snort and her glasses to slip a little down her nose.
She's adorable. And damn, but he's in it now.
-o-
"Addison!"
Sam looks up as he hears her name being called from across the room. That damn guy (Mike? Matt?) is waving her over to where he's leaning obnoxiously back in his chair, feet propped up on the desk inches away from some poor girl's breakfast. Addison shoots him a tight-lipped smile and a small wrist flick before walking over to Sam, who pulls his backpack off the sear next him (not that he was saving it or anything).
"He likes you," Sam mumbles under his breath as the professor begins to call for everyone's attention.
"Who, Mark?" Addison scoffs. "Please, he likes everyone."
"Really? So, you're not interested?"
"Interested in two magical days of lovemaking, complete with STD's and girlfights with complete strangers? Pass." She glances over and then breaks out into a smile. "Sam, you're blushing."
"Am not." He is. The lovemaking comment brought some images to mind that need to be immediately shaken off (he's a guy, alright?). "It's just…" He takes a deep breath, "In that case, maybe you'd…"
"In the back! Quiet down!" The professor barks at them, as Sam finds an entire room full of eyes turned to them. This is doing nothing for his nerves, but Addison trying to stifle giggles into her hand is helping a little.
He's liked these past few days. He's been less stressed, less anxious. He hasn't needed to leave class to take a hit of his inhaler or call home just to be sure that someone out there believes he can do this. So, although it's totally unromantic and without any charm or sex appeal…
Maybe you'd like to go out with me, he scribbles on the margin of his notebook and pushes it across the desk.
Her mouth drops open a little as she reads and when she turns to look at him, clearly shocked, Sam's hand clenched around the inhaler in his pocket. He's an idiot, because this is something that clearly has never crossed her mind, this is him being such a geek that he can't tell the difference between polite small talk with a study buddy and flirting.
I can't, Addison mouths back at him. Yeah, he figured.
-o-
"Sam! SAM!"
He's making this more embarrassing, not able to take rejection like a man, but dammit he couldn't look her for the rest of class and he doesn't want to stand and listen to her trying to figure out a nice way to put 'never in a million years.' But she catches up to him in the hall and blocks him from going up the staircase, so it doesn't look like he'll have any other option.
"This has nothing to do with you," Addison starts, and he cuts her off. That was a horrible way to start a sentence.
"It's not a big deal…"
"No, Sam." She runs a hand through her hair, looking distressed, "Fuck, that sounded incredibly lame, but it's really not about you, it's…. my roommate."
Sam blinks. "What?"
"My roommate, Naomi…. The really funny, smart, pretty, good cook, talented roommate that I've clearly been doing an awful job of talking up she… she really likes you. And I wasn't supposed to say that last part but I just wanted you to know… I can't go out with you because Naomi… really wants to go out with you."
"Oh." Sam blinks again. This is all very strange.
"And she's kind of shy, so I just thought if I got you to think about it, then you might… Crap." Addison sits down on the steps and drops her head in her hand. "I suck. At this. And in general."
"You're saying that… a really funny, smart, pretty, good cook, talented woman had a crush… on me."
Addison lifts her head. "She thinks you're sweet. And hot."
"Whoa." He sits down next to her, ignoring the passing students glaring at them for taking up too much room. "You don't suck."
"Sam, I'm really sorry." She looks it too. And he's sorry too because he has sisters and understands all about cardinal rules and girl code and whatnot. So, yeah, he's disappointed (except for the part of his brain that's screaming, 'it's not about you'). Still though… he knocks his shoulder against hers. "You got Naomi's number?"
-o-
So he asks out Naomi. Addison points her out from across the campus, and then after a helpful shove in the back disappears into the library. Naomi says yes, and she's great, really, really great. They have fun together, and she's gorgeous and confidant, and sensitive, and he likes her a lot.
A week and a half into dating, Naomi's dragging him across the quad, grinning over her shoulder when he asks what they're doing.
"I just spotted someone I want you to meet. Hold on – Addie! Over here."
She's sitting cross-legged under a tree and when she looks up at the two of them a smile flits across her face.
"Sam," Naomi announced stopping in front of her, "This is my best friend, Addison. Addie, this is… the guy I've been telling you about."
"Nice to meet you Sam," Addison says sweetly, reaching out a hand.
"Nice to meet you too Addison," he replies, shaking it, and he can't help it but he tips a little wink in her direction because, seriously, this is a little funny.
He likes to think that if nothing else, they'll be friends.